COEUR d’ALENE — Mathematics has always been a space where 17-year-old Adeline Smith could explore her own limits.

By co-founding Growing the STEM in 2017 with her sister, Lilian Smith, she’s been passing on the love of learning and passion for science, technology, engineering and math to other students in their community. 

Smith is the sole student from Idaho named as one of the 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionaries. The award honors young people ages 14-18 whose innovative solutions address pressing challenges in their communities.

The award meant a great deal to Smith, who believes in keeping curiosity a major part of a student’s experience.

“I’ve learned how moldable kids are at an early age,” Smith said.

When she was still in elementary school, Smith was inspired by how successful peer-to-peer learning could be in generating interest in subjects like math and science. When she and her sister realized a high percentage of students in her school failed to meet state standards for math, they created "Growing the STEM" using a peer-to-peer model to foster a curiosity for learning.

The nonprofit program is powered by older students to run math and science programs to foster curiosity and fuel problem-solving skills in STEM-related fields and has now expanded to reach about 900 students in about 14 Idaho schools.

“In the math program I coach, you can really see how just in a couple weeks, with the positive reinforcement of their math skills, no matter what their skill level is, you can really see improvement in their skills and their confidence,” Smith said.

Smith and the other 24 Prudential visionaries won $5,000 to expand the scope of their projects.

One of the most eye-opening elements is the joy in changing a kid’s mind about a “boring” school subject.

“They can actually enjoy math and I think that’s super important,” Smith said.

The clubs in Growing the STEM present problems for the students. They have to use critical thinking skills to solve that problem.

Uncertainty about problem solving to hit upon the “perfect solution” can be stressful, but even if students don’t have all of the answers, the goal is to encourage them to not lock up when there’s an issue and instead start breaking down the obstacles.

“Having that ability to work through something that you’re kind of confused about is super important,” Smith said.

The $5,000 will be a big help for Growing the STEM to overcome financial barriers to reaching more students. 

“I kind of just see that money as more kids helped and I think it’s super cool that we got that stipend,” Smith said.

The award also means she’ll receive a paid trip April 20-23 to Prudential's headquarters in Newark, N.J., where she will be coached by Prudential speakers and meet other young leaders.

“As much as I love Idaho, I really love traveling and seeing people from different states,” Smith said.